


In the face of anxiety, I freeze

by Winterchildboobear



Series: In the face of anxiety, I freeze [1]
Category: BLURRYFACE - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Anxious Josh Dun, Five times josh needed a hug and one time he got it, Josh Dun is a Sweetheart, Josh needs a hug, M/M, Sad Josh, eyebrow raise, josh has anxiety, josh!anxiety, or not platonic, platonic cuddles, tyler is oblivious, tyler understands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 06:30:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterchildboobear/pseuds/Winterchildboobear
Summary: Fives times Josh found himself feeling anxious and wanting to cling to Tyler, the urge to curl up in his friends lap and ignore his problems lingering over his head.Five times josh spaces off staring at Tyler, Tyler’s hands, face or his lap with a mixture of anxious fear and desperation but can't bring himself to ask for comfort, and the one time Tyler takes it into his own hands to help his friend after he notices how much Josh is struggling.





	In the face of anxiety, I freeze

Josh picked at his nails as the raised voices of his parents echoed through the hallway. The floor between them did nothing to stifle the angry arguing that had filled the small home for the last half hour. 

Anxiety hung above Josh like a shroud, his fingers trembling uncontrollably as he chewed his nails, the white paint that had once decorated them was chipped and almost gone. He hadn’t repainted them after his father shouting about them being gay and unacceptable, it had crushed Josh, the rest of his afternoon was spent crying and telling Tyler between choked sobs. 

Lifting his eyes to gaze at his best friend, Josh watched Tyler who sat, seemingly unbothered across the room. His long legs crossed beneath his from where he sat, hunched over on Josh’s bed, the only sounds coming from his side of the room was the flick of the comic book’s pages that he was reading. 

The fighting between the Dun parents had increased in the past six months, the arguing was tuned out by most of the Dun children, Josh still found it difficult to ignore the screaming of his parents, especially now that it was mostly about him.

Staring at Tyler, he couldn’t help but to feel envious of the way that even his best friend could ignore the fighting of Josh’s parents. Tyler’s brown eyes focused on the pages of the comic book, they were calm, unlike Josh’s that couldn’t stop moving. His eyes locked in a constant state of darting around the room, unable to focus on an object for more than a few minutes before feeling too antsy. Twisting a hand in his hair, Josh tugged at the pale crimson strands. He had dyed it a few months ago, on his seventeenth birthday. His father had hated it, threatened to make him buzz it off actually. It was an act of defiance, a silent,  _screw you_  to the man who had caused so much tension in their home. 

Josh’s body jerked as his parent’s bedroom door slammed shut. He winced as his finger screamed in pain, the nail bitten too short. The yelling grew louder across the hallway, chopped off words reaching Josh’s room. 

“Don’t worry about it, buddy,” Tyler mumbled, turning another page, “They do this all the time, it will pass and then we can go play Mario cart on the Wii.” Josh curled up farther into the recliner that he was in, the origami in his lap crumpling between his chest and knees. Their friend Jenna from school had taken up the art form in an attempt to get out of pottery class, Josh had taken a liking to the meticulous folding and creating. Jenna was more than happy to share her newfound skill. 

Josh’s skin itched, his body felt too tight. It felt like his skin was constricting his breathing. The craving for contact was as loud in his head as the arguing in the other room. His eyes were drawn to Tyler’s lap, his friends arms propped on his knees as he gazed down at his book. The spot looked comfortable. Josh wanted to just crawl into his friend’s lap, to cover his ears and just breath. Tyler was always comforting, the Joseph smell was one that Josh fell in love with at a young age. After seventeen years of friendship, the Joseph’s were as comforting as Josh’s own family. The two friends used to always have contact between each other, over time it had fallen out of habit unless it was directly sought after. 

Josh locked his hands behind his neck, curling into a tighter ball as he shoved the thought of contact away.  


End file.
